Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Top 5 Zombie Bible Verses

Zombies are a big deal these days. They’re on TV shows like The Walking Dead, and they have been all over video games and movies for decades. Games like Plants Vs. Zombies and Resident Evil are top sellers. There has also been a rash of real life flesh eating people recently. I don’t know what’s up with that, but maybe the Bible does. So, in an effort to gather more blog views I’m shamelessly writing a blog about...

THE TOP 5 ZOMBIE BIBLE VERSES

5. The Walking DeadTherefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life. Romans 6:4

The Bible is full of examples, illustrations, and figurative speech about being dead and brought back to life. This passage is one of those. It talks about spiritually killing off our old sinful self. It’s only after we’ve killed off our old self that Christ spiritually raises us back to life. This is what happens when you make Jesus the leader and forgiver of your life. This is also what immersion baptism represents. Dying to the old sinful self and being raised again in new life. Pretty cool stuff. I encourage you to go and read all of Romans 6 to get the full understanding of the passage.

4. A Dead Army Back to LifeI prophesied just as I’d been commanded. As I prophesied, there was a sound and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone. I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them.

He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, ‘God the Master, says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath. Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!’”

So I prophesied, just as he commanded me. The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army. Ezekiel 37:7

This is a fantastic prophesy about how God is going to raise up Israel, His people, again. I wish I could have been there. It would have been really creepy, but also really awesome. Again, no flesh eating or anything like that, but it’s a great example of the dead being brought back to life, and this time as an army. An undead army.

3. Back From The GraveThe tombs were also opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And they came out of the tombs after His resurrection, entered the holy city, and appeared to many. Matthew 27:52-53

There is no denying that Christ’s death was powerful. It shook the earth and opened tombs. Then we also see how powerful the resurrection was. Those who were, “Asleep” came alive again at Jesus’ resurrection and walked out those opened tombs. In the strictest sense I guess these aren’t zombies either. It seems they came to life and acted like normal people. There was no flesh eating happening. What is interesting is their rising from the dead from out of their graves... Maybe they weren’t zombies in the strictest sense, but they seem to at least have a case of the undeads?

2. Rotting flesh, a Plague, and Enemies of the LordThis will be the plague the Lord strikes all people with who warred against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. Zechariah 14:12

This passage points forward to the second coming of Christ. The beginning of the passage talks about all the evil things the enemies of God are going to do to Israel. In an act of punishment God sends a plague against His enemies that causes their flesh to rot while they walk around. Their eyes and tongues will also rot. Interesting factoid: Common punishments of the day included the flaying of skin, the gouging out of eyes, and the cutting out of the tongue. Zechariah points to all this happening through a plague and not with the hands of people. Sounds a lot like the undead to me.

1. Sorry, No Dying[The locusts] were ordered to torture and not kill... When this happens, people are going to prefer death to torture, look for ways to kill themselves. But they won’t find a way--death will have gone into hiding. Revelation 9:6

A common theme in most zombie flicks is the inability of the undead to die... again. A zombie’s arms can the ripped off, legs can be severed, and they can even be decapitated, but they still don’t die. Imagine a horrendous car wreck where the person CAN’T die. They feel all the pain, but would walk/crawl around for five months without dying. Boom! Zombie. If you combine the Zechariah verse with the understanding that this happens right in the middle of the apocalypse, we get what seems like a real five month zombie apocalypse.

Next time people say that the zombie apocalypse isn’t going to happen maybe you’ll want to point them to some of these verses. I’m going to give you a pro-tip: If you’re a Christian you won’t be a part of the zombie apocalypse. You’ll already be in Heaven. Maybe today’s lesson could be: Become a spiritual zombie through Christ so that you don’t become a physical one.